Ice Breaker: Leafs blow 3-0 in Vegas, Stankoven completes the set
Vegas erases a three-goal hole and wins the shootout, Stankoven scores at every strength, and Colorado drops seven on Calgary.
The Leafs led 3-0 in Vegas before the eighth minute and still went home with one point. Elsewhere, Logan Stankoven scored a hat trick with one goal at every strength, and Colorado put seven past Calgary without needing a power play.
By our count, Jack Eichel now has a point in all five Vegas games, 12 points in total, which explains why the Knights never looked finished at 3-0.
Golden Knights 4, Maple Leafs 3 (SO)
Jack Roslovic, Easton Cowan and Nick Paul made it 3-0 Toronto by 8:37 of the first. Mark Stone, Brett Howden and an Eichel penalty shot, after Morgan Rielly tripped him on a breakaway, tied it early in the second. Trevor Connelly won the shootout.
Sully's chirp: Vegas outshot Toronto 43-24 and Sergei Bobrovsky made 40 saves to keep it close. The Leafs gave him a 3-0 lead and a 43-shot workload, which is how you thank a guy in Toronto.
Cale Makar had two goals and an assist, Devon Toews and Jaden Schwartz scored twice each, and Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and two helpers. Devin Cooley gave up seven on 30 shots.
Lind's read: All seven Colorado goals came at even strength. The Avs' power play is converting at 30.8% by our count, and it wasn't needed, which is bad news for the rest of the West.
Hurricanes 7, Canucks 2
Stankoven scored shorthanded, on the power play and at even strength, and Shayne Walker set up four goals. Andrei Svechnikov added two first-period power-play goals. Kevin Lankinen was pulled after 12 saves on 18 shots.
Sully's chirp: Walker had four assists and zero shots. That's the guy at the bar who buys every round and never drinks one.
Bruins 6, Utah 1
David Pastrnak scored twice on the power play and set up two more, and Morgan Geekie had a goal and two assists. Jeremy Swayman stopped 36 of 37 while Utah outshot Boston 37-22.
Lind's read: Utah won the shot count by 15 and lost by five. Three power-play goals and a .973 save percentage will disguise plenty of possession problems.
Stars 4, Sabres 0
Jake Oettinger stopped all 26 shots, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists, and Wyatt Johnston contributed three helpers.
Sully's chirp: Buffalo hasn't scored a power-play goal yet, per NHL data. Buddy, I'm begging you, the extra man is supposed to help.
Lightning 3, Wild 2
John Carlson scored twice, once on the power play, and Anthony Cirelli opened it. Nikita Kucherov set up both Carlson goals and has a point in four straight. Quinn Hughes and Blake Coleman scored for Minnesota.
Lind's read: Minnesota visits Sunrise on Saturday. Hughes is averaging 28 minutes a night by our count, so Florida's forwards should expect him on the ice for nearly half the game.
Predators 5, Canadiens 2
Montreal led 2-0 midway through the second. Then Alexander Kerfoot, Matthew Wood and Ryan O'Reilly scored, two of them on the power play, and Adam Edstrom added two empty-netters 71 seconds apart.
Sully's chirp: Edstrom's two goals came against nobody. Somebody tell him the goalie usually comes back.
Sharks 3, Blues 2 (OT)
Darnell Nurse won it 1:03 into overtime after Collin Graf tied it in the third. Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist.
Lind's read: Robert Thomas is pointless through four games while playing 20.2 minutes a night, by our count. That's a small sample, but the Blues need their top center on the sheet.
Islanders 4, Blackhawks 1
Bo Horvat scored twice, once on the power play and once into an empty net, and Emil Heineman and Anthony Duclair added the others.
Sully's chirp: Horvat has four goals in four games. I've started checking under my car for him.
Senators 2, Flyers 1
Carter Yakemchuk won it on a third-period power play, with Claude Giroux assisting against his former team.
Lind's read: Philadelphia defensemen Cam York and Jamie Drysdale are both pointless through five games while playing more than 20 minutes a night. A team that scored once needs more from its back end.
Three stars of the night
- Logan Stankoven, CAR: three goals, one at every strength.
- David Pastrnak, BOS: two goals, two assists.
- Jake Oettinger, DAL: 26 saves, shutout.
Lind's number of the night
4.3%. That's the Panthers' power play through four games, by our count. It's a tiny sample, but a top unit this good can't stay that cold, and Saturday against the Wild is a good night to fix it.
Sully's take of the morning
Earlier this week, the Leafs climbed out of a 3-0 hole. Thursday, they dug one for Vegas and handed over the shovel. Grade: D. Bobrovsky gets an A for making 40 saves, and nobody on that bench gets to complain about the shootout. I said what I said.
Kessler's corner
Western Michigan opened its home schedule by dismantling Ferris State 6-0.
Tonight
The Panthers are off before they host Minnesota on Saturday at 6 PM ET.
Tonight has four games: Seattle at Detroit, the Rangers at Washington and Pittsburgh at Columbus at 7 PM ET, then Anaheim at Winnipeg at 8 PM ET.
The one to watch is Rangers-Capitals, with New York at 4-1-0 and Adam Fox on a four-game point streak. DraftKings has the Rangers at +120. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
